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Intervenors

Find out how to actively participate in a hearing.

If you think certain changes being proposed by your utility could affect you in some way, and you want to go beyond just writing a letter or attending one of our community meetings, you may want to consider intervening in an Ontario Energy Board hearing. Intervening is a way for you to become a recognized party in the hearing so that you can question the utility’s application, file evidence and provide your perspective about whether or not we should approve their application or approve something different.

What’s an intervenor?

Intervenors are individuals or groups who have our permission to actively participate in a public hearing about a utility’s application. Intervenors represent various customer groups such as low-income consumers, school boards and commercial and industrial customers. They also sometimes represent special interests such as environmental and conservation groups.

Who represents issues you care about?

Find out who frequent intervenors are in Ontario Energy Board hearings and the groups they represent – such as residential, small business or low-income consumers.

What do intervenors do?

We make our decision about the application by holding hearings. Intervenors actively participate in those hearings. For example, they submit written questions, cross-examine the utility and other witnesses at oral hearings, file evidence and make written or oral arguments – all of which helps us to decide whether or not to grant the utility’s request. We make our decision about the application based on hearings.

Individual consumers or groups of electricity ratepayers may request to become intervenors as long as they can show they are directly affected by the outcome of the application. To determine whether an application might affect you, visit current rate applications.

We welcome consumers’ participation because it helps us to better understand your perspective and to make decisions that are in the public interest. In addition to intervening, attending community meetings and sending us letters of comment are other ways for you to have your say about your utility’s request to make changes.

Intervenors and transparency

Any document from an intervenor that is filed with the Ontario Energy Board becomes part of the public record and is posted on our website. That’s good for everyone. The more transparent we are about our decision-making process, the more informed you can be about the energy sector and the issues that matter most to you.